Non-VR Game Battlerite Adds Rift/Vive Spectator Mode

Battlerite is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game (MOBA) you might not expect us to cover here on UploadVR, but it’s actually making headlines for the second time.

Last week the game’s developer Stunlock Studios launched its new CamCrew spectator mode. It allows viewers to watch matches unfold in real-time. More importantly, though, the option allows you to put on an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive and watch live matches or replays come to life inside your headset, much like the DOTA 2 VR spectator mode Valve added to its hit MOBA a few years ago.

Better yet, a built-in video renderer allows you to create your own clips from battles with your control over the camera putting you in the director’s chair.

“CamCrew is really a whole new way of working with cinematography in digital media,” Stunlock’s Head of VR Tobias Johansson said in a prepared statement. “It empowers single users to create content almost in real time that could rival any big production studio with animators and expensive equipment. It breaks down the barriers between ideas and execution and allows anybody to make fantastic shots directly with the camera without any traditional animation work needed.”

The idea builds upon Stunlock’s past work in VR. Released in full late last year, Battlerite itself doesn’t support VR, but the developer did experiment with the tech nearly two years ago now, releasing a trailer for the game that it had filmed entirely within the HTC Vive. It was a great showcase of how VR can be used in any sort of game development, even if your final product isn’t going to support headsets. Now the team is putting the tools it developed in everyone’s hands, hoping to fuel a new generation of user-generated content.

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Imagine VR spectators sitting in the bleachers for Rocket League or some other sports game?

There could be an actual audience, with physical representations that the players can see. Players could cheer along their team, take place in activities, deck out their spectator avatars and such. It’s not inconceivable, so it’s a wonder that no one has implemented anything, such as this, to this degree.

Especially for eSports/Twitch, adding a VR level is a good idea. It also gives reasons for eSports to have advertising for spectators, which helps to pay for the events and such.